Green Tea? She's Clearly a Hidden Gem!

Walking into the milk tea shop, Jiang Linyuan sat down and immediately looked at Zhao Qiulu across from him:

"Thank you. Honestly, today I was supposed to be taken away by Su Muzhi."

"You don't need to thank me. You should thank Shen Wanyu."

Zhao Qiulu shook her head.

She had only made a single phone call, and Shen Wanyu agreed without asking any questions.

As expected, she just seemed cold on the surface, but deep down she was actually kind-hearted.

"As for her... I don't dare have too much contact. Su Muzhi and she seem to have a complicated relationship, and besides..."

"Besides what?"

"She's too scary. I feel like she can see right through me with just one glance."

Jiang Linyuan spoke with lingering fear.

The Department Head was way too sharp. She could understand what others were thinking with just a single look.

It forced him to forcefully suppress his own thoughts—being seen through by the Department Head would be way too awkward.

"Mm, you'll get used to it. She can see through some things, but she rarely interferes."

Zhao Qiulu recalled Shen Wanyu's past words and actions, then sighed.

"I don't think she's easy to get along with. Compared to her, I'd rather spend time with you."

Jiang Linyuan pulled a classic "praising one by putting down another."

Sorry, Department Head, I'm using you as bait to fish. I'll let you fish me out later too.

"No need to say that. It's just that Su Muzhi's influence on you is too strong. Not all rich girls are like her."

Zhao Qiulu smiled as she spoke.

"Shen Wanyu is just a bit cold in personality. She's not as nasty as Su Muzhi."

"Anyone who can go toe-to-toe with Su Muzhi can't have pure intentions."

Jiang Linyuan kept going.

Oh, I love trash-talking the Department Head behind her back!

Later, I'll let the Department Head spray me right in the face to pay me back!

Zhao Qiulu shook her head and looked at Jiang Linyuan:

"Speaking of which, how exactly did Su Muzhi take a liking to you in the first place?"

Jiang Linyuan froze for a moment, was silent for a while, then slowly said:

"It's all in the past."

"Keeping it bottled up inside isn't good, is it? Talking about it will make you feel better."

Zhao Qiulu looked at him, wanting to take his hand to comfort him. But the moment she touched him, Jiang Linyuan jumped back as if shocked.

Hey, sis, what are you doing? The Department Head told me she's been secretly watching me the whole time, and now you're getting handsy too?

"Sorry, I'm a bit reactive."

Jiang Linyuan seemed to come to his senses, sat back down, and lowered his head to apologize.

Zhao Qiulu looked at his hand shoved into his pocket. After a moment, she said:

"What's going on with you?"

Jiang Linyuan kept his head down, as if thinking about something, and didn't speak for a long time.

"You..."

Zhao Qiulu watched his behavior and couldn't help asking:

"You don't have gynophobia, do you?"

Me? Gynophobia?

Jiang Linyuan looked up, stunned, then wore a helpless expression:

"How did you figure it out?"

Yes, I, Jiang Linyuan, am a gynophobe patient!

Zhao Qiulu looked at him and let out a long sigh:

"I already thought something was off about you. At first, I thought you resisted my approach because you saw through my ill intentions."

"But now that we've been honest with each other, you still resist me. Two meetings, and you haven't touched a single cup of milk tea I ordered for you."

Rather than calling it gynophobia, it was more like PTSD. What on earth did Su Muzhi do to him?!

"Your evaluation of Shen Wanyu is the same. You're in the same department at school, right? Even just through work interactions, you should be able to see that she's cold on the outside but warm on the inside."

"But you seem to have added a label to her, lumping her in with Su Muzhi's nasty personality."

Jiang Linyuan lowered his head and said:

"That's just basic caution and vigilance."

Zhao Qiulu sighed:

"I've seen a guy similar to you before."

"He had a girl he liked and planned to confess to her after a party ended."

With that, she let out a small laugh:

"But the girl rejected him. And at the exact same time, another guy confessed to her, and she accepted."

Jiang Linyuan was taken aback:

"What does that have to do with gynophobia?"

Zhao Qiulu was silent for a moment:

"The guy originally had a crush on another girl. But out of jealousy and a bet between friends, that girl bragged that she could make the guy fall for her within three days."

"So she did it. She cared for him endlessly, took him to watch movies, took him street racing, went wild..."

"That guy was actually a very insecure homebody. His world was very small..."

At this point, she didn't continue.

Jiang Linyuan rubbed the back of his head.

That sounded strangely familiar.

He cautiously continued:

"Then the guy fell in love with the girl, but she was just playing a prank?"

"Worse than a prank."

Zhao Qiulu said:

"The girl knew the time and place of the guy's confession, but she didn't like him at all. To make the story more interesting, she found a guy with a better family background and better looks to confess to her." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"On the same day, in the same place. Then she bragged about what she'd done right in front of the guy, savoring every detail."

"Pretty awful, right?"

Jiang Linyuan nodded. This was even worse than his own situation.

I'd flirt and then bail. How could someone humiliate him to his face like that?

"After that, the guy changed completely. How to describe it... there was just this indescribable feeling."

Zhao Qiulu spoke lightly, as if recalling something:

"Later, when the girl grew up and realized how terrible her actions were, she took the initiative to find the guy and apologize."

"I'll never forget his eyes in this lifetime. That disgust down to the bone. That's when I knew—the guy whose eyes lit up while sitting in the convertible was never coming back."

She said this, then looked at Jiang Linyuan:

"Jiang Linyuan, you're different from that guy. You're smarter, more confident than he was back then. And besides, you have me."

"Are you trying to atone for your sins?"

Jiang Linyuan asked.

Who else would know this story so well but the person involved?

Zhao Qiulu nodded:

"That's right. I was that girl back then. So I can't stand Su Muzhi's behavior even more. I can't stand seeing you continue to suffer like this."

So that's it. A double stand-in.

Xiao Ling, who was expelled by Xiao Su. The guy Zhao Qiulu toyed with.

Both identities stacked onto himself. Miss Zhao, your timer's about to run out.

"Your story isn't touching at all. It just made me feel sick."

Jiang Linyuan said.

"I know. But I genuinely want to help you. You can try trusting me a little more. Consider it giving me a chance to atone, Jiang Linyuan."

Zhao Qiulu extended her right hand, as if waiting for a response.

Atonement? Miss Zhao, if you'd really changed your ways and truly wanted to atone, you shouldn't have approached me in such a deceptive way.

You never changed.

But that just means I have even less of a guilty conscience now.

Jiang Linyuan reached out, gently placing his fingertips on her palm:

"This is the most I can do."

With that, he pulled his hand back.

Hehe, Miss Zhao, just wait for your cards to be laid bare!

Next up! Zhao Qiulu's B-Card Pull!